[Disclaimer] All things Twilight belong to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Welcome back to your very favorite Twilight soap opera. I can't thank all of you enough for taking the time to read & review my little story here. It means more to me than you'll ever know. It's because of you that I keep writing.

This chapter is dedicated to secrets87 and Cullengirl0413. Hope you'll enjoy!

**Chapter 40**

"Hello Bella, it's so nice to see you again." Maria greeted me cheerfully before she hugged Ali for a moment and whispered something into her ear that was too low for me to understand it.

Ali's beautiful eyes narrowed for a moment but then she squeezed my hand that she was still holding in hers and relaxed a little bit.

"She's here, isn't she? Damn it, I knew that Jasmine would show up here tonight."

Maria cleared her throat nervously before she spoke up again.

"I don't know where the hell the stupid…, well I don't know where Jazz is, but the fucking death machine is right in front of the club. That's means she can't be too far. Just do me a favor in case you see her before me. Tell her to piss the fuck off. I don't need any of my ex-girlfriends hanging around in my club." Jeez, Benjamin had been right when he told me that Maria was bitchy about her ex…

"Would you like to dance?" Ali asked me after a few awkward moments of silence and I nodded my head silently. Slowly we walked over to the small dance floor, where she wrapped her dainty arms around my neck and pulled me close towards her pixie body. I closed my eyes as she rested her head against my bare shoulder. Her sweet scent entered my nose and I inhaled deeply to absorb as much of her vanilla-apple scent as possible.

"I love you, Bella." She whispered into my ear and I turned my head to plant a soft kiss upon her full lips while our bodies moved slowly to the rhythm of the music in the background. The tip of her tongue nudged against my lower lip and when I parted my mouth a little her tongue slipped between my lips to explore my mouth.

For a moment I forgot completely where I was but then I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and cringed slightly.

"Bella, I think you and your girlfriend should get a room." Benjamin chuckled after giving me a one-armed hug. Ali turned around and when he saw her face his own suddenly turned white as chalk. It was as if he had seen a ghost or something like that. Whatever it was, it was weird. He rubbed his eyes and swallowed hard before he spoke up.

"Hi, I'm Benjamin. You must be Bella's girlfriend. I'm afraid I forgot your name."

"It's Ali. Benjamin, it's nice to meet you."

We walked over to the bar where we met Seth who was sitting next to a dark-haired girl with huge, fearful eyes. Leah waved her hand at us and continued sipping on the glass of wine in front of her.

"Seth, how can you bring your straight date into a gay club? That's just so wrong, somehow…"

"Benjamin, don't tell me you're jealous again. Bree and I are just friends. You still know what friends are, don't you?"

"So you're Bella's girlfriend, aren't you?" Leah asked Ali in an attempt to change the subject of her brother's conversation with their employee.

I nodded my head and ordered a glass of wine for me and a coke for Ali.

"Don't tell me she's too young to drink. Jeez, have you never heard of faked ID's?"

"You mean like the one you used to get in here tonight?" Maria snarled at him as she walked by to greet Leah.

"The stupid fake ID isn't worth the twenty bucks you paid the dipshit who photo-shopped the fucking thing for you."

"Oh come on, Ramirez, don't be like that. I bet if I had a pussy you'd let me have the drinks for free."

"If you had a pussy, I'd turn straight." She stated and waved the two waitresses towards her.

"Nettie…Lucy…no alcoholic drinks for this…pussy here tonight. We don't need any stress with the cops because of drunken minors…"

"That's so unfair. I know how to hold my liqueur. My uncle let me try his plum liquor when we visited him last summer. It wasn't that bad really…"

Seth suppressed a giggle.

"Wasn't that when they sent you to that hooker afterwards? The blonde-one who was supposed to show you how much fun you could have with a girl."

"Asshole, I only told you about that because…well I don't know why."

Seth put one arm on Benjamin's shoulder to calm him down.

"Hey, I was just kidding. And everyone knows about the hooker thing. Your dad told my mom and she told Leah and…"

"All of you gossip like old women." Benjamin stated, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Did your father honestly send you to a hooker?" I asked him hesitantly.

He sighed deeply and to my astonishment his cheeks turned into a bright crimson color.

"Yes he did. Just for the record; I didn't touch the poor girl. We just talked but it was still weird somehow."

Ali sipped on the glass in front of her and her lipstick left a ruby colored mark on its edge.

"I can't believe anyone would do something so ridiculously stupid like sending a gay man to a hooker. Your dad seems to be a little bit old-fashioned. Am I right?" Ali asked him.

Benjamin shook his head.

"No, he isn't. My father isn't some kind of homophobic asshole. The whole thing was my uncle's idea. Whenever we're visiting him, he keeps talking to my dad that he needs to do something about my homosexuality."

"Your uncle doesn't seem like a very nice person." I mumbled while my fingertips caressed the small stripe of exposed skin on Ali's back."

"He's not that bad. He's just…well things are different where he lives. It's just the way he was raised in…"

"Oh Miss Cullen! Miss Swan, how nice to see you here," Zafrina greeted us before she hugged Leah and planted a kiss on each of her cheeks.

"How are you doing?"

Leah put one finger in her mouth and made puking noises.

"Same old, same old…the stupid bitch is already pregnant again."

"Don't call her that, Leah." Seth pleaded her, obviously embarrassed.

"She's still our cousin."

"Maybe to you, you…you…moron of a brother; I'd like to see you if you were in my situation. Guess, you'd still invite her over to celebrate Thanks Giving and Christmas together after she fucked around with your husband."

"Lee, try to calm down. Your poor brother didn't mean it like that."

"Your husband left you for your cousin?" I asked Leah, before I gulped down the glass of wine in front of me.

She nodded her head.

"I'd prefer not to talk about it though." She mumbled towards the floor while an ugly frown flashed over her beautiful copper face.

"You really shouldn't make such a face, Lee. It'll give you wrinkles."

"Would you please remind me why I chose you to be my divorce lawyer?" Leah snarled at her.

"Because I'm the best and you know that Lee. By the way; have you seen Maria yet? Where the hell is she?"

"Probably still looking for Jasmine to kick her out of the club…" Benjamin stated cheerfully while his eyes followed the ass of a dark-haired guy in a tight yellow t-shirt.

"Jazz is here too?"

"The stupid bike is here, that means she must be here too." Ali mumbled exasperated.

"You mean the Harley? Jeez, that bike is cool. Such a shame she didn't want to keep it. Well, a shame for her…good luck for me, I guess."

"You bought the Harley?" Ali's voice raised two octaves.

Zafrina chuckled slightly.

"Why do you seem so shocked? It's just a bike. It's not like I asked her to marry me."

XXXX

There was something about drunken people that scared me somehow. I couldn't even tell what it exactly was that I was afraid of, just that it made me feel awkward to be around them.

"Are you sure that we shouldn't bring him into an E.R.?"

"Bella, is right, Seth. He could have alcohol poisoning or some other crap."

"No, need no…E.R." Benjamin blurred out while he started planting kisses on Seth's cheek.

"You…smell…like…cotton candy, Sethy."

"And you smell like a drunken sailor. God, Benjamin, why do you always have to be so irresponsible?"

"You are jealous of the hottie who bought me the drinks, aren't you!"

"Benjamin, for heaven's sake, lower your voice, if you don't want Maria to find out that you drank yourself into an almost delirium in her club."

"Hey, don't be like that Seth. You know that I only want you…I luv you."

I realized that was he was saying was far more than what he wanted to and he would be embarrassed by it in a few hours. Or maybe he wouldn't? It was hard to tell what was really going on in Benjamin's cheerful mind.

"It would probably be best for him, if he'd get sick." Ali stated, wrapping a jacket over my shoulder. It was cold outside the club and every time I exhaled the air turned into white steam.

A moment later a low moan left Benjamin's throat. He collapsed on the cold asphalt while the content of his stomach left a light brown mess on the front wheel of Jasmine's….Zafrina's bike.

Seth kneeled down next to him and pulled a tissue out of his pocket.

"Are you feeling better now, Mr. I-can-hold-my-liqueur?"

Benjamin wiped his mouth with the tissue and stood slowly up again.

"Crap." He called out.

"I lost one of my contacts. Sethy, you need to help me to find it again."

"You don't honestly expect me to search for your stupid purple contact in a puddle of vomit?"

"You don't luv me, Sethy. You don't luv me…"

"Cam down, Benjamin or I'll call your father to pick you up."

"No, please don't do that. He's not even home right now. He's working double shift in the new ware-house."

He turned his face to the side, a split second before his stomach heaved again over and over until there finally wasn't anything left inside him that he could throw up.

Slowly he sat down on the ground again because his trembling knees obviously were too weak to keep standing.

When he raised his head again I heard someone right next to me gasping for air.

"Do I honestly look that bad?" Benjamin croaked out, his husky voice sounding far more amused than it should.

"No, no…it's nothing. It's just…well…maybe it's just this awful neon-light outside here." Ali stumbled out and I instantly pulled her closer to me

"What's wrong?" I whispered into her ear, as she stiffened more and more next to me.

"His eyes." She mumbled so low that I could barely hear her speak at all.

"What do you mean?" I asked her but then I saw it myself and cringed slightly.

Benjamin's eyes were red and puffy now. There was even a small trail of black mascara running down his cheekbones. The iris of his left eye still matched the color of his lilac shirt perfectly but the other one. The one without the contact on it was staring back at us in the light brownish color of melted caramel toffee…

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

[A/N] Speaking of evil cliffhangers and the authors that use them *cough*. Any theories?